China, Africa trade volume rises 14% to $170b

Hundreds of programs, ranging from agriculture, poverty reduction, public health, and trade and investment facilitation were launched in Africa as well. About 1,500 medical team members from China diagnosed and treated 460,000 patients in African countries, added the vice-minister.

China will assist in developing Africa's endogenous growth capacity, in full consideration of the connections among the Belt and Road Initiative, the African Union's Agenda 2063, the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and respective developing strategies of African countries, said Qian. African countries will extensively participate in the designing of future China-Africa trade cooperation during the upcoming Beijing Summit from Sept 3 to 4, added the vice-minister.

China's aid to Africa will also turn from the past "blood transfusion" model into "blood production" model, said Qian. In the past, China has aided the Africa in multiple aspects, including people's livelihood, and it will continue to cultivate Africa's endogenous growth capacity, which determines Africa's future development potential and prospects, said the vice-minister, adding that core infrastructure and talent training are all important measures in achieving the goal.

Besides providing assistance in hardware such as infrastructure construction in Africa, China will support African countries in software such as sharing developing experiences in investment promotion, preferential policy making, and management experiences in building economic and trade zones, Qian said.

According to the vice-minister, more than 30 heads of state and government will attend the High-level Dialogue of China-Africa Leaders and Business Representatives and the 6th China-Africa Business Forum during the Beijing Summit, with over 700 African entrepreneurs signed up for the conference already.